Commercial Law

LAW OF SALE

1. List the essentialia of a contract of sale;

• What the seller is selling = res vindita 
• The price that the buyer will pay for the item
• When the payment & the item will be transferred btw the parties

1. List the duties of a seller;

• duty to deliver the goods
• duty regarding latent defects
• duty to warrant against eviction
• duty not to make false statements
• duty of care until the goods are delivered

1. When is a contract of sale perfecta;

• Buyer & seller have the intention of buying & selling
• Price is fixed or can be fixed
• Thing to be sold has been specified (definite/identified)
• Contract doesn’t have any conditions

(Risk generally passes from seller to buyer as soon as contract is perfecta)

1. When will risk not pass to the buyer;

• Buyer & seller add condition to their contract that risk will not pass from seller to buyer until the object has been delivered

• When goods have to be weighed, measured, or counted, contract only perfecta once goods have been weighed, etc.

• When the seller has not delivered the goods at the agreed time & this has caused loss & damages that would not have happened had the goods been delivered on time. If damage would have occurred even if the item had been delivered on time, buyer suffers the loss.

• Where the sale is subject to a condition. Until condition is fulfilled, risk stays with seller,

1. Distinguish between the different types of delivery and be able to identify from an example.

Actual delivery; seller brings piano to buyer and hands it over

Symbolic delivery; when someone sells you a car, he will hand you the keys to symbolize delivery

Delivery with the long hand (traditio longa manu); farmer selling a flock of sheep may point them out

Delivery with the short hand (traditio brevi manu); You become the owner of the object you’re already in possession of

Transfer of possession: The seller then has possession of the item on behalf of the buyer